The present invention relates generally to the cooling of electronic devices and more particularly relates to an apparatus and method in which electronic devices which are mounted on a circuit board are cooled from a central system, with a detachable portion of the cooling system being secured to the circuit board and being removable therewith.
Microprocessors made using the CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) process are capable of higher performance when cooled. The performance increment is about ten percent per 25 degrees cooling and has been verified using an NCR Corporation NCR 32000 chip set down to the temperature of liquid nitrogen, 77 degrees Kelvin.
Since it is expected that future microprocessor chips will operate with high power consumption, special provisions must be made for cooling the chips. Commonly, the provisions include the use of heat sinks which provide cooling in an air stream. As the power consumption of the microprocessor chips increases, an alternative to air cooling may prove to be advantageous. Once chip cooling considerations have dictated the use of active cooling, the cooling system can also be used to enhance the performance of the processor.
One potential difficulty in applying an active cooling system to the electronic components on circuit boards of a data processing system is that the structure of such a cooling system may interfere with the convenient removal and replacement of the individual circuit boards of such a system. Since these circuit boards may periodically need to be removed and replaced for repairs, maintenance or other purposes, it would be advantageous to provide an arrangement in which the cooling system structure would not interfere with such removal and replacement.